Definition

Wikipedia has over 5.5 million articles and approximately 600 new articles every day on the English version alone. It has 32.5 million active editors and 33 million registered users. The website was launched on January 15, 2001, and had 298 language versions. It has articles relating to a wide range of topics. The online encyclopedia is used by many for their research projects, assignments, presentations and dissertations, but how does Wikipedia make money?The site is designed to make data creation and collaboration easy as it allows people from different parts of the world to edit and contribute content using reliable...

30 March, 2019

Facebook is a social networking website that allows users to create profiles, keep in touch with family, colleagues, and friends, send messages as well as upload videos and photos. The site is free to use and available in 37 different languages. Facebook offers public features like Events, Groups, Marketplace, Presence Technology and Pages. Marketplace allows members to read, answer and post classified ads. Events let members publicize events, invite guests and track interested individuals. Groups allow members with common interests to interact and find each other. Presence Technology makes users see which contacts are available on chat. Pages enable members...

27 March, 2019

Radio-frequency identification or RFID pertains to a technology where a reader captures digital data encoded in smart labels or RFID tags through radio waves. How does RFID work? RFID uses radio waves to identify objects and gather information about them. The information gathered is entered into computer systems with little or no intervention from humans. RFID systems are composed of an RFID reader, an antenna and a smart label or RFID tag. RFID tags have an antenna and built-in circuit that are used to send data to the RFID reader, which converts the radio waves into usable data. Information gathered...

26 March, 2019

Near Field Communication or NFC allows short-range communication between devices. Different devices that use the NFC standard will be considered active or passive. Active devices can send and receive information as well as communicate with one another. It can also communicate with passive devices. Some of the most common types of active NFC devices are smartphones, touch payment terminals and public transport card reader.Passive NFC devices, on the other hand, are capable of sending data to another NFC device even without using a source of power. Examples of such devices are small transmitters and tags. A passive NFC device can’t...

26 March, 2019

A cryptocurrency is a virtual currency that can be used to exchange services and goods through electronic transactions without the presence of an intermediary. It is a decentralized form of currency, meaning it is not controlled by any financial institution, government or bank. Your privacy is also maintained when making transactions. The coins are stored in a personal wallet that has a non-transferable code known only to you. There’s no intermediary, and all transactions are done from person to person. Transactions are also quick. It takes only a few minutes to send money.The first cryptocurrency is Bitcoin introduced in 2009...

25 March, 2019

Alexa is a digital assistant that you can command to control the gadgets in your home or answer your questions. It will talk to the gadgets in your home to do what you want or gather the data you need. The smart devices in your home should be Alexa compatible. Look for a “Works with Amazon Alexa” sticker on the boxes of your smart devices.Amazon Echo’s popularity has attracted many people to try what Alexa can do. Your Alexa speaker allows you to set alarms and timers, play radio stations, get customized news reports, stream music from music services like...

25 March, 2019

Bluetooth connects portable equipment such as mobile phones. Low-cost transceivers are embedded in the devices. Up to 8 devices can be connected at the same time, and each device provides a unique 48-bit address. The piconet or Bluetooth network is composed of a personal area network that contains 2 to 8 Bluetooth peer devices. There’s usually up to 7 slaves and one master, the device that initiates a connection with other devices. It controls the traffic and communications link between itself and the slaves, the devices that respond to the master device. Slaves need to synchronize their receive/transmit timing with that...

24 March, 2019

GPS or Global Positioning System consists of approximately 30 satellites orbiting our planet at an elevation of 20,000 kilometers. The network of satellites was initially developed for military use, but anyone who owns GPS devices can now get the radio signal broadcasted by the satellites. Each GPS signal transmits data about the present time and its position at consistent intervals. The GPS receiver intercepts the signals and computes the distance of the satellites from each other based on the amount of time it took for the message to arrive. The GPS receiver is capable of identifying your location via trilateration...

24 March, 2019

The internet has two main components – the hardware and the protocols. The hardware includes cables that carry data, radios, routers, satellites, servers, Smartphones, mobile phone towers, and other devices. These devices together form a network of networks. The internet is a flexible system. Although elements leave and join networks around the world, the internet doesn’t change significantly. Some of those elements are more peripheral, while others form the internet’s backbone and may remain quite static.These elements are connections, and some of them are endpoints such as Smartphones, computers or other devices you are using. Those are called endpoints clients....

23 March, 2019

WiFi allows gadgets to communicate without wirelessly. The wireless networking protocol is a trademark of Wi-Fi Alliance and uses radio waves. What happens is that the wireless adapter of the computer translates data into a radio signal and delivers it to a wireless router using an antenna. The wireless router decodes the signal and sends the data to the internet using a wired Ethernet connection. The process works in reverse as well. The router receives data from the internet, translates into a radio signal and sends it to the PC’s wireless adapter.WiFi radios are capable of transmitting at a frequency...

23 March, 2019

We are all familiar with the word torrent. However, most of us don’t have a clear idea about what it is. If you, too, are stuck by the question in your mind,  we can surely help you understand it better. That said, now let us take a look at the details of the torrent. What Is a Torrent? Torrent is a type of computer file used to distribute data using multiple servers. Many people have used torrent files to access loads of data. Many haven't used one, but know about torrent files. Many haven’t even heard of a torrent file. In the...

11 February, 2019